Timothy Kirkhope (ECR). – Mr President, I want to thank the rapporteurs for their work, but I think the report has been a missed opportunity. The ECR Group supports much of the European agenda on migration, but Parliament has not focused on getting the EU’s asylum system working properly.

Combating human trafficking, returns, readmission, third-country cooperation agreements, detention conditions, fingerprinting, sharing of resources, external border controls and integration policies are themes that are merely touched on but absolutely key to finding a way forward. Furthermore, the radical and impractical options suggested by Parliament for the Dublin Regulation will not serve as well in a time when what we want is for Member States to start following the rule book, not tearing it up. Despite this, I look forward to working in the coming months on many of the Commission proposals which my Group can support. This is an important area and we must get it right.